Ascending stairs of consciousness

One of my favorite passages on continuing life is written by George MacDonald. It is similar to Lewis’ idea of many floors, “different levels of being, distinct but not always discontinuous” (Miracles 254). Offering his explanation of miracles and higher law, MacDonald writes, “I suspect that our Lord in all his dominion over nature set forth only the complete man—man as God means him one day to be. … In [our Lord], there is perfect submission to lower law. But he would occasionally reveal the Father to the children by the introduction of higher laws operating in the upper regions, not separated from ours by an impassable gulf— rather connected by gently ascending stairs, many of whose gradations he could blend in one descent.” (Character 107)

And I think MacDonald’s reference to  “upper regions” explains Jesus’ transfiguration. The transfigured Jesus was temporarily just a step or two further along on the “ascending stairs.” For me, this means that the lower laws of the natural universe and God’s higher laws of spirit are connected, a part of the same infinite progression or pattern.